2008
uOttawa WTO Moot Team Places Third at North American Regionals
The uOttawa World Trade Organization (WTO) Moot team comprised of Natalie Senst, Catherine Archibald, Arif Mahmood, and Ernesto Caceres placed third in the North America regionals held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. on March 5-6, 2008.
The uOttawa team placed first after the first round but lost to Duke University School of Law in the semifinals. The team members are bringing home three plaques: best complainant’s brief, best respondent’s brief, and best written submissions.
The WTO Moot competition involved a dispute between two fictional WTO member countries over telecommunications services, specifically mobile phones, under the General Agreement on Trade in Services. A developed country (Digiland) was alleging a series of violations that a developing country (Teleland) had made. Click here to read the case.
The team would like to thank their coach Prof. Debra Steger as well as Professors Tony VanDuzer and Anthony Daimsis for helping with the oral skills training. Additionally, the team thanks Matthew Kronby and Eric Leroux from DFAIT as well as Georges Bujold from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal for helping sharpen their oral skills.
Common Law Team Defends its Title at 2008 National Jessup Moot Court Competition
The Common Law Team defended its title placing first at the White and Case Canadian National Division Qualifying Tournament of the 2008 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition beating the University of Toronto, University of Calgary, and Dalhousie Law School. Held in Saskatoon from March 5-8, this annual moot is recognized as the world’s largest moot competition and is organized by the International Law Students Association. It involves a fictional international law case argued before the International Court of Justice.
This year’s team members include Safina Lakhani, Brendan Green, Benjamin Piper, Michael Marin, and David Quayat. In addition to placing first overall, the team won first place for memorials and best respondent’s memorial. After the general rounds, Brendan Green won best speaker, Benjamin Piper placed third, and David Quayat placed fifth. In the final round, David Quayat won best speaker.
The Jessup competition problem presents issues for discussion by students who are studying international law. This year, the Jessup problem addressed important and timely issues concerning terrorism and human rights.
The Common Law Section’s team will now go on to represent Canada at the Shearman & Sterling International Round in Washington, D.C. which will be held from April 6-12. Participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries will take part in this final round, making it the largest and most prestigious moot court competition world-wide. Teams that advance to the international round compete in three days of preliminary moots, and then those with the highest scores, advance to quarterfinal, semifinal, and then final rounds. Past winners include uOttawa’s Common Law Section (2007), Columbia University (2006), University of Queensland (2005), and Ateneo de Manila University (2004).
The Common Law team thanks their coach Prof. Anthony Daimsis (LL.B. ’00) as well as advisor, Erik Eastaugh (’07), who was a member of the winning team in 2007. “As usual,” states Prof. Daimsis, “we win and lose as a team. Every team member’s contribution is part of the winning recipe. This is our philosophy and the reason why moot alumni from the teams that I have coached are always ready to help.”
Congratulations to the Common Law Jessup team!
Common Law Team at Jessup Internationals: Talent, Dedication, and Outstanding Results
This year’s Jessup team consisting of Safina Lakhani, Brendan Green, Benjamin Piper, Michael Marin and David Quayat, and coached by Prof. Anthony Daimsis and advisor, Eric Eastaugh, represented Canada at the Shearman & Sterling International Round in Washington, D.C. from April 6 to 12, 2008.
After defending its title for the second year in a row at the White and Case Canadian National Division Qualifying Tournament, the Common Law team went on to the international round and tallied the second most points after the preliminary rounds. The team won 7th place for their memorials, and both David Quayat and Brendan Green finished in the top group of oralists. More than 100 law schools from 77 countries participated at the Shearman & Sterling International Round.
Prof. Anthony Daimsis comments on the team’s performance: “It has not gone unnoticed that our Jessup team’s success both nationally and internationally corresponds with our faculty’s comprehensive and focused approach to international law. Our students’ knowledge far exceeded what judges believed possible from students, as the team’s outstanding results exhibit.”
Fraser Milner Casgrain – uOttawa Negotiation Team in London, England
The Fraser Milner Casgrain – University of Ottawa Negotiation team composed of Moray Horne and Marion Van de Wetering represented Canada at the International Negotiation Competition held at the University of Westminster in London, England from July 8-11, 2008.
The Horne-Van de Wetering team competed against Denmark, Ireland, and Scotland, receiving much interest and praise from the judges for their interest-based approach. Handong International Law School, South Korea won first place.
This year’s competition involved a fictitious global sports tournament—the Small World Games--which required the teams to negotiate the commissioning of the design of a new logo and mascot for the games.
The Horne-Van de Wetering team thanks the University of Ottawa and Fraser Milner Casgrain for the support that they received throughout the competition as well as those who took the time to judge practice negotiations against Moray and Marion.
uOttawa Jessup Team Places Fourth in Dillard Competition
The 2008 Jessup team consisting of Safina Lakhani, Brendan Green, Benjamin Piper, Michael Marin and David Quayat finished fourth at the 2008 Hardy C. Dillard Competition, making them the only North American team to place in the top ten.
The Dillard Competition brings together the best Memorials from the national and regional rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Each memorial is re-evaluated by a panel of three judges. Click here to see the top 10 teams in this year’s Dillard Competition.
http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/jessup08/dillard.php
For the past two years in a row, the uOttawa Jessup team has placed first at the White and Case Canadian National Division Qualifying Tournament. This year the team won 7th place at the Shearman & Sterling International Round for their memorials, and both David Quayat and Brendan Green finished in the top group of oralists. In 2007, the Common Law team ranked as quarterfinalists at the international round.
Congratulations to the team and their coach, Anthony Daimsis.
Common Law Jessup Team Wins Baxter Award
The Common Law Section’s 2008 Jessup team has won this year’s Baxter Award for the world’s best Respondent Memorial.
The Richard Baxter Award is presented to teams for excellence in Memorial writing by comparing individual Applicant and Respondent Memorials. The Applicant and Respondent Memorials of teams that receive an Alona E. Evans Award or a Hardy C. Dillard Award are entered into the Richard Baxter Award Competition.
Click here to read a copy of the Common Law Section’s award winning Respondent Memorial.
Safina Lakhani, Brendan Green, Benjamin Piper, Michael Marin and David Quayat finished fourth at the 2008 Hardy C. Dillard Competition, making them the only North American team that placed in the top ten. The Dillard Competition brought together the best Memorials from the national and regional rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition.
For the past two years in a row, the Common Law Section’s Jessup team has placed first at the White and Case Canadian National Division Qualifying Tournament. The team won 7th place at the Shearman & Sterling International Round for their memorials this year, and both David Quayat and Brendan Green finished in the top group of oralists. In 2007, the Common Law team ranked as quarterfinalists at the international round.
Congratulations to the team and their coach, Anthony Daimsis.
uOttawa/FMC Negotiation Team Competes in ABA Regional Negotiation Competition
The University of Ottawa/Fraser Milner Casgrain Negotiation Team competed in the American Bar Association Law Student Division’s Regional Negotiation Competition in Boston, MA on the weekend of November 1-2, 2008.
Team members Sharon Marcushamer, a third-year Common Law student, and Tamara Morgenthau, currently in her second year, performed very well in the competition, winning both of their negotiations. While they did not advance to the finals, their good showing gives them a strong chance to qualify for the national competition in Boston in February as Canada’s top-ranked team.
Aimed at promoting and developing negotiation skills among law students, the event sees the two-person teams compete in simulated legal negotiations dealing with a variety of legal problems. Teams are given confidential and general information, and are ranked by a panel of judges based on their ability to negotiate the best possible results for their clients. Twenty teams competed in the regional competition in Boston.
The Marcushamer-Morgenthau team earned their way to Boston by placing first among 24 uOttawa teams in the Ninth Annual Fraser Milner Casgrain/uOttawa Faculty of Law Negotiation Competition at the offices of Fraser Milner Casgrain on October 7, 2008. Their success in the intra-school competition united the pair with second-time coach and FMC Associate, Maria Barrett-Morris.
“It’s an honour to be asked to share the knowledge that I’ve gained over the last few years with current law students,” said Ms. Barrett-Morris. “The students that I’ve been lucky enough to work with this year and last year have all been very bright and charming individuals. I’m certain they will all be very successful lawyers in a few short years.”
Congratulations to the team and good luck qualifying for the next round!
Nelligan O’Brien Payne First year Moot Court Competition 2008
On Saturday, November 8, 2008, some 80 first-year students participated in the preliminary round of the Nelligan Moot Court Competition.
The case under appeal at the Supreme Moot Court of Fauteux Hall was a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Walford v. Jacuzzi Canada (2007) 87 O. R. (3d) 281. In Walford, the Court of Appeal overturned, by a 2-1 majority, the decision of the trial judge and awarded Ms. Walford $3.6 million in damages for injuries that she sustained in a backyard swimming pool accident.
Twenty hearings were heard over the course of the day, and each of these hearings had a panel of three judges. Seventeen judges came from Nelligan O’Brien Payne together with another 11 lawyers and judicial clerks from the community. Professors Anthony Daimsis and David McNairn together with third-year student James Wishart rounded out the Saturday judging panels.
Four students advanced from the preliminary round to the final hearing:
Fida Hindi and Natalia Werhun for the appellant;
Greg Gapski and Billeh Hamud for the respondent.
The following participants were runners-up and received honourable mention for their performance at the preliminary hearings:
Appellant runners-up: Amy Avis and Taylor Casement
Respondent runners-up: Amanda Sarginson and Nicole Kozicki
Best Factum runners-up (tie): Samira Ahmed and Joanna Reznick (appellant) and Michael F. Ahmadi (respondents)
On November 10, the final round of the Competition was held at the Faculty of Law. The judges that participated in the final hearing were Justice Rothstein, Supreme Court of Canada; Justices Maria Linhares de Sousa and Denis Power of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Justice Power, together with John Nelligan, founded the Nelligan Power law firm in 1965.
In a very close decision by the judges, Greg Gapski and Billeh Hamud won the John P. Nelligan Cup as the top team of advocates. Greg won the top oralist award. Fida Hindi and Natalia Werhum received runner up awards.
The prize for the best factum was awarded to Andrew Christie and Jonathan O’Hara.
The County of Carleton Law Association (CCLA) Prize for Best Factum includes free registration and an invitation to speak at the upcoming CCLA Solicitor’s Conference to be held at Montebello Que. in May 2009. Andrew and Jonathan will deliver a paper on Walford v. Jacuzzi to the lawyers attending the conference.
Common Law Team Wins Canadian National Mediation Advocacy Competition
The uOttawa Common Law team competing at the Canadian National Mediation Advocacy Competition (CNMAC) on the weekend of November 22, 2008 placed first and second overall.
Competing against 10 other teams, Izabel Czuzoj-Shulman and André Schutten placed first, and Peter Quansah and Lisa Culbert placed second. Izabel Czuzoj-Shulman also won the award as best individual advocate for the competition.
The Common Law winning team received the Winkler Cup which is presented by the Honourable Warren K. Winkler, Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal. They also receive an expenses paid trip to Paris, France where they will attend and compete in the 2009 International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Mediation Advocacy Competition.
Congratulations to the winning teams and their coach, Professor John Manwaring!